Annual tuition at the nation's largest university system is now $5,970, in addition to $1,047 in campus fees. Cal State University students could see an additional 5 percent tuition hike this spring if voters fail to pass Gov. Jerry Brown's November tax initiative.

So when the CSU earlier this year approved a round of raises for newly hired campus presidents, Silva said she was outraged.

"So many students are struggling, and yet the CSU is still finding the money to give their presidents raises," said Silva, a member of the CSU campus group Students for Quality Education. "What do the presidents really do anyway? I can't understand why they get paid so much money."

In a time of crowded classrooms, cuts in course offerings and double-digit tuition hikes, Silva isn't alone in criticizing what many say are bloated presidential salaries.

CSU officials counter that the 400,000-student, 23-campus system -- the nation's largest public university system -- needs to offer competitive salaries to attract top talent for what is becoming an increasingly difficult job under state budget cuts.

Furthermore, as the system struggles to offset a nearly $1 billion loss in state funding since 2007 -- a number university officials often cite in justifying tuition hikes and program cuts -- fundraising now plays a critical role in a president's duties.

CSU leaders say presidents' salaries are small in comparison to the amount of money they help raise through campus foundations -- though data obtained from the CSU show that not every campus has been meeting fundraising goals.

The issue of funding, and where it's distributed within the system, has become more critical than ever as the CSU anticipates a $250 million "trigger cut" in state funding if voters reject Brown's tax initiative. Proposition 30 would raise $8.5 billion for public education and social services by increasing the sales tax by a quarter cent to 7.5 percent and boosting the income tax rate on people earning more than $250,000 a year.

If Proposition 30 fails, the state cuts will be enacted, which will cost students an extra $150 per semester in tuition starting next spring. The system could also see significant cuts to admissions and courses, CSU officials say.

A competitive market

The presidential salary debate became heated last year when the CSU Board of Trustees approved a $400,000 compensation package for newly named San Diego State President Elliot Hirshman, while in the same meeting trustees also approved a 12 percent tuition increase. Hirshman earns about $100,000 more than his predecessor.

The move sparked a public outcry and criticism from top officials, including Brown, who blasted the CSU for recruiting highly paid "hired guns" from across the country rather than searching for local talent. Crowds of angry students also protested the financial decisions, sparking confrontations with police.

Hirshman is now the university's top-earning president with an annual salary of $350,000 in addition to a $50,000 annual supplement from campus foundation sources. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed, who will retire in December, is one of the state's highest-paid leaders in public education, with a salary of $421,500, in addition to a $30,000 annual supplement.

The average annual base salary for a CSU president is about $298,000.

As for the perks, presidents receive a $1,000 monthly auto allowance and a free house provided by the campus, or a $50,000 to $60,000 annual housing stipend.

The pay package may be tough for the average Californian to swallow, but experts say the salaries and perks are necessary to be competitive in the national market.

"You want the very best and brightest for your institution, but it's hard to find the right candidates if you don't offer competitive salaries," said Jamie Ferrare, senior vice president of the Association of Governing Boards, a national organization that aids universities in presidential searches. "I understand that to people making $40,000 a year, $290,000 seems like an awful lot of money, but a major institution like California needs to look at how their pay ranks compared to the rest of the country."

Some surveys show that CSU presidents earn less than their peers in other states. A 2010 survey by an outside consulting firm hired by the CSU found that the system's average presidential salary lags behind the national market by 45 percent.

A nationwide survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education of 190 public research institutions found that the average compensation for a university president in 2011 was $421,395.

The highest paid leader in 2011 was University of Ohio President E. Gordon Gee, who earned $1.9 million. In California, the top earner was University of California President Mark G. Yudoff, who earned $581,232.

CSU Trustee Lou Monville, who chaired the committee on presidential selection and compensation, said the CSU works to pay its presidents fair salaries while also trying to meet public expectations in a time of severe budget cuts. Monville said presidential pay is a small sum compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars lost in state funding. Presidential compensation accounts for about $10 million, less than 1 percentof the CSU's $4 billion operating budget.

"We recognize that in these difficult times, presidential salaries are a source of concern for the public," he said. "But we also need to offer incentives to recruit the best talent and keep them. We don't want to be the system that attracts the best and brightest only to lose them to other universities."

Nonetheless, bowing to public pressure, trustees in January approved a salary cap for newly hired presidents of $325,000 or no more than 10 percent above what their predecessors made. Trustees went on to approve the maximum 10 percent salary increase for the next two newly hired presidents, Leroy Morishita of Cal State East Bay and Mildred Garcia of Cal State Fullerton, much to the outrage of students, faculty and some elected officials.

State Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, who has been vocal in his opposition to the presidential pay raises, said CSU officials should show more restraint when doling out raises when the state is in the midst of a severe budget crisis.

"The 10 percent cap is really for best of times, not a time when they're raising student fees," Lieu said.

With critics still not placated, in May the board set even tighter salary restrictions. The 10 percent increase cap remains, but can only be paid by private campus foundations, not from taxpayer money.

In July, under the new policy, trustees again approved paying the maximum 10 percent increase over the outgoing president's salary for Cal State Northridge President Dianne Harrison and Cal State San Bernardino President Tomas Morales.

Six presidents now receive annual supplements ranging from $29,000 to $50,000, in addition to their salaries. Officials said the goal is to pay CSU presidents competitive salaries without using taxpayer dollars.

The job of a president

With tens of thousands of students, hundreds of faculty and multimillion-dollar budgets, running a CSU campus is like running a midsize city, Ferrare said.

Many people don't understand the demands of the job, he said.

Campus presidents must raise money, represent the campus in the community, speak to major higher-education policy issues and also take care of the campus itself.

"Most of the CSU campuses are larger than most cities in California," he said. "If you think about the scope of what a president does in terms of management, the demands are at least as great if not greater than most corporate CEOs. You're also the face of the university, and that's a 24/7 job."

As head of the nation's 21st largest public university, no two days are the same for Cal State Long Beach President F. King Alexander.

One day he could be at the White House working to shape higher-education policy. The next he could be holding a fundraising dinner in his home or attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Sometimes his job goes beyond the norm, such as tackling the campus's feral cat problem or brainstorming ways to stop local herons from snatching prized koi fish in the Japanese garden.

"What I love about the job is that it's uniquely different every single day," he said.

Alexander, 48, who joined Long Beach in 2006 after heading Murray State University in Kentucky, said the CSU runs the risk of losing its leaders to higher-paying institutions if it doesn't offer competitive salaries.

"The challenge for someone like the chancellor is that he's got to find good college presidents to run these universities, but when you're on the bottom of the pay scale, it gets increasingly difficult to attract and keep good people," he said. "The last thing you want is for the CSU to become a training ground for other universities."

Not all students are critical of CSU presidents' pay.

Sydni Powell, Associated Students president at Cal State Northridge, said the job of a president is often misunderstood by students.

"A lot of times presidents are seen as figureheads, and while maintaining good relationships and being the face of the university is really a big part of it, there's so much work that goes on behind the scenes that students don't know about," she said. "It's a job 365 days a year."

The efforts are of little comfort to students like Miguel Garcia, a 26-year-old anthropology major at Cal State San Bernardino.

Garcia said all he sees are the effects of budget cuts.

"They're raising tuition every semester, and it's getting harder and harder to get classes," Garcia said. "I just don't see where the money's going."

Money, it turns out, is a big part of a university president's work. More specifically, bringing money in.

As the CSU has faced a 33 percent loss in state funding since 2007, fundraising for the campus foundations has become a growing role for presidents.

Long Beach's Alexander said fundraising consists of about 25 percent of his duties, which is why presidentsare provided with housing. The understanding is that the homes are meant for fundraising dinners and other charity events, he said.

Alexander said he has frequentfundraisers in his Long Beach home, adding that one dinner event raised several milliondollars from one donor.

"We try to do better every year, but the foundations took massive hits when the economy collapsed," he said.

Fundraising struggles

But with the economic downturn, foundations have taken huge hits and that can be a problem for CSU presidents, whose performance is evaluated in part by whether their campus reaches its fundraising goals, said CSU spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp.

Some campus foundations bring in millions of dollars each year, providing support for scholarships, academic programs, construction and other needs.

After seeing a nearly 30 percent drop in charitable donations when the economy crashed in 2008, the CSU system's overall fundraising numbers are beginning to recover. In the 2010-2011 fiscal year, the CSU received more than $344 million in donation commitments -- an increase of more than $79 million, or 30 percent, from the 2009-2010 year, according to CSU records.

Still, of the 23 campuses, only 12 met their fundraising goals in a three-year average between between 2009 and 2011.

The CSU sets fundraising goals for each campus based on a campus's number of full-time professional fundraisers, endowment market value and the number of individual donors.

Campuses in the top tier, such as Long Beach, are expected to raise an amount equal to more than 15 percent of its state general fund allocation, while campuses in the middle tier, such as Northridge, are expected to raise 10 to 15 percent.

Campuses in the bottom tier, like Dominguez Hills, are expected to raise 10 percent of the amount provided by the state general fund.

Area campuses that struggled to meet their goals included Dominguez Hills, which met 50 percent of its goal, and Northridge, which met 70 percent of its goal.

Uhlenkamp said a number of factors can influence a campus's ability to raise funds, including geographic location and alumni base. The numbers can skew greatly if a campus is involved in a major fundraising campaign or has recently received a multimillion-dollar donation.

However, San Diego, with its hefty base of alumni donors, more than doubled its goal, pulling in an amount equal to 34 percent of its state general fund allocation.

In such a case, the president's salary, even one topping $400,000, pales in comparison to the amount of money that the president helps raise, officials say.

In a July board meeting, Reed noted that San Diego's president, Hirshman, helped the campus foundation raise $71 million for the campus, surpassing his goal by more than $21 million.

Monville said a president who is a skilled leader with experience in fundraising is an asset to the system.

"A president who can raise millions in funds is a return on the investment to taxpayers tenfold," he said.